Deft Remodel of Worker's house.

palimpsestJuly 7, 2012

This is one of the very small worker's houses that cover various parts of the city. This house was probably in near-shell condition. Because it is so small, I will be posting several views of the same room to convey layout.

I think this was particularly well handled. This was always a small 2 BR house, now a 1BR+ den. I think this was very well done considering the house is about 13 feet wide on the interior.

The above picture should start to give you a hint at something. Here is the kitchen:

This house was last sold in 1977, so the rehab must have taken place very soon after. Looks good for a 35 year old reno, doesn't it?

That's a little gem! Very nice. I agree with Natal, I love everything but the orange counters. I wouldn't object to laminate if it were some other color...even possibly a different shade of orange, lol! I think the kitchen overall looks very appealing and user-friendly.

The one thing I'm quizzical about is the cutaway for the staircase. Maybe it's best for the space, but perhaps a full height wall would make that LR feel more comfortable and structured. Hard to tell from the pic.

Marcolo, I certainly didn't have fake granite Formica in mind as an alternative. Are those the only two options in the warehouse? Orange, or fake stone laminate? On the other hand would it be a horror of horrors to put a real stone counter of some sort in this kitchen?

I am not sure that most granites would be the best thing to do in this kitchen. Black granite was just starting to peak its head in a few years after this project was done. Maybe something like that. But I think any granite with too much speckle or movement would kill it. It's just not that kind of house--if you notice only the art conveys any sense of pattern.

If you did white marble it would be pretty nice, but I would go for quartz (and a dishwasher while I was at it).

Virtually nobody is rehabbing these sorts of houses with this kind of sensibility in the city right now.

>The one thing I'm quizzical about is the cutaway for the staircase. Maybe it's best for the space, but perhaps a full height wall would make that LR feel more comfortable and structured. Hard to tell from the pic.

Well, you know, I once lived in a fifteen ft wide townhouse with a staircase just like that (only it ran parallel to the long wall), and without a cutout you could not possibly have gotten any furniture upstairs. Not even in pieces. (Consider long items like bed rails when there isn't room to maneuver them to get started.)

I myself am inclined to prefer an open banister to the solid, but you really don't have the option of going to the ceiling in those locations.

I don't think Marcolo is Promoting orange Formica, and I am not, but I believe his point is that it wasn't trying to be something else, so as a plain color, it's still available as laminate and as other materials.

Here are four other offerings in the neighborhood, and one of these houses is on the same block and was probably identical at one time. Despite the oak and the arched doors, the listings say that these kitchens were done between 2006 and today. One of these houses is significantly more than the subject house, one is less, and the other two are about the same. I don't think Any of these kitchens have the presence that the one at the top of the post.

Can't ask for a much better remodel - especially working with 13' wide rooms. You can tell whoever decorated had an eye for proportion. It would have been so easy to clutter the place up (not a fan of the placement of the huge urn, fern, tbl and chair in the lr corner though).

Hard to tell from the pic but the lr floor looks like stained concrete?

I totally agree. I couldn't see granite countertops in there AT ALL, and yes, quartz, also with very little movement or speckles would be ideal. Soapstone could possibly work, since it's so quiet, but it has a more organic feel that would not be as perfect as the slicker quartz surface for such a house. I also thought about marble, but agree it's not the best way to go. Recycled glass could maybe work, but again, not as ideal as quartz.

But happily, laminate isn't the only "proper" option for such a re-do. Plastic just isn't for everyone, and the rest of the house does have a slightly organic, even slightly earthy feel, even though it is very clean and streamlined. Maybe all that wood & natural light going on?

It feels very much like a home and not a slick, industrial, over the top "Look at what a contemporary house I am" sort of re-do.

Yes indeed, those four kitchens certainly lack the charm, and as you say "presence," of the first. They may suit in the suburbs of Philly, but become lost in translation in an urban setting. Surprising the owners in that locale gravitated in such a direction.

You can imagine I love the orange formica! If it were in good shape, I would leave it. Really, all I would do is get a new range. My blue Big Chill fridge would be perfect in that space, or else get an orange one.

I think the cutaway stairwell was to take greatest advantage of the skylight above it; lets light all the way down into the LR.
It all aged well. The orange is fine because it ties it to a very distinct period.
Casey

Part of the durability of the esthetic is that it has never been completely out of favor in about 60+ years. There have been times when very few people were installing plain slab doors, but modernism has never been completely dead since it developed. This is a current offering from Viola Park, the semi-custom range of parent company Henrybuilt:

This kitchen gave me flashbacks to the A&W restaurant my parents had in the 70s and 80s. The tables were dark brown faux wood laminate with a chunky border or orange around the edge. I can't recall all of the finish details, but I know it was a sea of brown and orange!

I wonder what granite will remind people of in ten years or so? Flipped houses? Blingy Home Depot luxury? The Cubic Zirconium of countertops? Where people get into real trouble with fads is thinking they are appropriate everywhere just because they are currently trendy.

I think it is going to be one of those things that "depends". There are granite installations here that are maybe 30 years old. (mostly black), and the tile backsplash never completely went out of favor here. There are going to be regional variants, the house my sister rented in a semi rural area but right outside a major city had a kitchen that I identified as 1990 and the house was completed in 2005ish.

Oh, wait, that's my current association...seriously, who knows? Maybe the current 'green' trend will make keeping countertops trendy, and stones will actually last the lifetime people hope they will (I'm not holding my breath...but it could happen).